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EYE GAZE AND PRODUCTION ACCURACY PREDICT ENGLISH L2 SPEAKERS’ MORPHOSYNTACTIC LEARNING

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2016

Kim McDonough ,
Pavel Trofimovich ,
Phung Dao  and
Alexandre Dion
Kim McDonough*
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Pavel Trofimovich
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Phung Dao
Affiliation:
Concordia University
Alexandre Dion
Affiliation:
Concordia University
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kim McDonough, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd W., Education Department, FG 6-151, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8 Canada. E-mail: kim.mcdonough@concordia.ca
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Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between second language (L2) speakers’ success in learning a new morphosyntactic pattern and characteristics of one-on-one learning activities, including opportunities to comprehend and produce the target pattern, receive feedback from an interlocutor, and attend to the meaning of the pattern through self- and interlocutor-initiated eye-gaze behaviors. L2 English students (N = 48) were exposed to the transitive construction in Esperanto (e.g., filino mordas pomon [SVO] or pomon mordas filino [OVS] “girl bites apple”) through comprehension and production activities with an interlocutor, receiving feedback in the form of recasts for their Esperanto errors. The L2 speakers’ interpretation and production of Esperanto transitives were then tested using known and novel lexical items. The results indicated that OVS test performance was predicted by the duration of self-initiated eye gaze to images illustrating the OVS pattern during the comprehension learning activity and by accurate production of OVS sentences during the production learning activity. The findings suggest important roles for eye-gaze behavior and production opportunities in L2 pattern learning.

Type
Research Reports
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 39 , Issue 4 , December 2017 , pp. 851 - 868
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Footnotes

We would like to thank the research assistants who helped with data collection, transcription, and coding: Abigael Sherby, Stella Carolina Stella, and Lauren Strachan. This research was supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada (435-2015-1206) and the Canada Research Chairs program (950-221304).

References

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